Project by

About this project

Ken Harvey is former NFL linebacker selected to the Pro Bowl 4 times.

The Idea behind FloatBall

Hello, everyone! My name is Ken Harvey, former NFL linebacker. While experiencing weightlessness on a zero-g flight with my business partner, Allen Herbert (an aerospace engineer), we wondered what sport you would play if you lived in space. With that thought in mind, we created FloatBall.

IMPORTANT: Our FloatBall project was just featured in the Washington Post ! Also check out this New York Times piece on my "dream of sports in space". Thanks!

Ken Harvey experiencing the thrill of 'zero g' (micro-gravity) for the first time.

Combining our talents, we came up with a game that would be fun, ferocious and factual. Since society has not yet achieved the level of space proficiency needed to play our new game, we decided that next best step would be to create a comic book about the sport. Not just any comic, but one that is cool and fun like Marvel or DC Comics, and also factually based on scientific possibilities.

FloatBall, like the original Star Trek, will help ignite the reality of today while fueling the imagination of tomorrow. This is where we need your help. We'd like to ask your assistance with funding this project.

Think of how you would play a sport floating in this environment.

What is FloatBall?

Imagine a stadium in micro-gravity with men and women anchored to the walls. Balls of different colors are shot into the air, each color group is worth different points. A player’s objective is to get the balls into the goals -- which can shrink unexpectedly like a collapsing black hole.

A spaceship takes players and fans to the FloatBall Orbital Stadium.

The players will come from all over the world, and each participant must learn how to work together to achieve a victory. Remember, this is a team game, so players have to help one another while guarding against their opponent's scoring.

You can move up and down, forward and backward throughout the weightless playing area. Each player has a certain amount of oxygen in their suits -- but once it's gone, they could drift into a state of unconsciousness (until they are taken away by the team's medical staff).

FloatBall players compete while floating in near zero gravity.

Help Us Make It Happen

If you are a fan of comics, space, sports, or science, then this is the comic for you. We need to raise enough money to produce and distribute the first issue. You can be in on the beginning of something great. Years into the future, your name will be associated with the beginning of a new age of sports in space.

Our goal is to create the first of a series of illustrated comic books delving into the world of FloatBall, the sport of the future. Who knows, with any luck the story will become a movie!

Preproduction sketches of FloatBall players by the FutureDude team.

FutureDude Studios

For the artwork, we got the best in the business: Jeffrey Morris, the owner of FutureDude Studios. Jeffrey, known as FutureDude, has consulted with NASA and produced comics himself. Take a look at some of the preparatory sketches and CG illustrations on this page that he and his team have created for FloatBall.

You can check out more of their work at FutureDude Comics. Also, Jeffrey and FutureDude Studios have completed a successful Kickstarter project for their own graphic novel, Mars: Daedalus Two.

Below are the Rewards you can get for the different Pledge Levels.

Risks and challenges

Our end goal on this project is to create a comic book. Allen and I are not artists, so we will employ talented people to do the artwork. This is the first comic that hopefully will be combined with other comics to become a graphic novel.

FAQ

Rewards

$5 reward

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Only ships to: United States

You selected

$10 reward

0 backers

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book; and the Digital Edition of the Comic Book (PDF).

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$25 reward

2 backers

Your name will appear on the digital comic. You will also receive a special electronic autograph picture from the creators and a digital download of the first issue

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$50 reward

2 backers

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book; the Digital Edition of the Comic Book (PDF); an Autographed Photo of Ken Harvey; and the Print Edition of the Comic Book.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$75 reward

2 backers

You receive a Floatball T-Shirt, a digital download of the comic, a hard copy of the comic and your name on the Thank you page.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$100 reward

1 backer

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book; the Digital Edition of the Comic Book (PDF); an Autographed Photo of Ken Harvey; the Print Edition of the Comic Book; the FloatBall T-Shirt; and the FloatBall Poster.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$200 reward

0 backers
Limited (50 left of 50)

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book; the Digital Edition of the Comic Book (PDF); an Autographed Photo of Ken Harvey; the Print Edition of the Comic Book; the FloatBall T-Shirt; the FloatBall Poster; and You Get Drawn into the Comic (digital photo required).

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$300 reward

0 backers
Limited (25 left of 25)

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book; the Digital Edition of the Comic Book (PDF); an Autographed Photo of Ken Harvey; the Print Edition of the Comic Book; the FloatBall T-Shirt; the FloatBall Poster; and a Page of Original Art from the Comic Book.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

You selected

$500 reward

1 backer
Limited (9 left of 10)

Your name on the Thank You Page of the Digital Edition of the Comic Book; the Digital Edition of the Comic Book (PDF); an Autographed Photo of Ken Harvey; the Print Edition of the Comic Book; the FloatBall T-Shirt; the FloatBall Poster; and a Page of Original Art from the Comic Book, and Naming Rights on an Ad inside the Orbital Stadium.

Estimated delivery:May 2014

Ships anywhere in the world

Funding period

May 22, 2013 - Jun 21, 2013
(30 days)

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